The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that it requires over $25 million in funding by the end of this year to support Afghan returnees coming back from Pakistan.
Mutinta Chimuka, WFP’s country director in Afghanistan, who recently visited the Torkham border crossing, described the returnees’ situation as alarming and said that “most of them are returning to Afghanistan with nothing.” She warned that these returns are happening at a time when one-third of Afghanistan’s population is suffering from food insecurity and does not know where their next meal will come from.
Chimuka emphasized that while the WFP is currently providing aid to returnees, additional financial resources are urgently needed to continue and expand this support.
At the same time, the Pakistani government has announced that it began deporting Afghan migrants from the start of this month. The country’s Ministry of Interior has stated that over 100,000 Afghans have been deported so far.
Pakistan plans to expel approximately 800,000 undocumented migrants and Afghan citizen card holders as part of this process. It is worth noting that more than one million Afghan migrants were also deported from Pakistan last year.
The World Food Programme has warned that without immediate assistance, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan’s border regions will worsen.
